Drug Enforcement Administration

Three Sentenced In Methamphetamine Conspiracy

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - John Matthew Love, 36, and Bryant Anthony Kreis, 32, of the Panama City area, and Carmen Theresa Silva, 40, of Atlanta, Georgia, were sentenced today by United States District Judge Robert L. Hinkle for conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. Love was sentenced to 84 months in prison, Kreis to 48 months in prison, and Silva to 42 months in prison. Love was also sentenced to a consecutive term of 24 months in prison for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. The sentences were announced by A.D. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement (DEA), Miami Field Division; and Pamela C. Marsh, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Co-defendants Mabrye Joseph Bettinger, 41, and Dusti Nicole Broxson, 26, both of the Panama City area, were previously sentenced on February 4, 2015, to 94 months and 151 months in prison respectively. Co-defendant Anastacio Mendoza, 37, of Atlanta, Georgia, is scheduled to be sentenced on August 5th at 9:30 a.m.

In September 2014, law enforcement officers arrested Love outside a Panama City Beach apartment building carrying a handgun and five plastic containers filled with methamphetamine. The total weight of the containers and methamphetamine was approximately 4 kilograms. Love admitted to transporting approximately two to four kilograms of methamphetamine from Atlanta to Panama City Beach on approximately 10 separate occasions during the summer and fall of 2014. Love then sold the methamphetamine to mid-level dealers, including Bettinger, Kreis, and Broxson.

Later on the day of Love’s arrest, Bettinger, Kreis, and Broxson showed up at Love’s apartment carrying cash in amounts ranging from approximately $4,000 to $13,900, for the purchase of methamphetamine from Love. Kreis and Bettinger admitted that they had purchased methamphetamine from Love on at least five different occasions. Several days after Love’s arrest, Mendoza and Silva were arrested while transporting an additional 4.8 kilograms of methamphetamine, intended for Love, from Atlanta, Georgia.

The case was investigated by the DEA Panama City Resident Office, DEA Montgomery Resident Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Panama City Police Department, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office, and the Houston County Sheriff’s Office. This case is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida